History of the World
Pre-History Pre-History is the period of human activity between the use of the first stone tools and the invention of writing systems. Early Pre-History c.200,000 BSR to c.10,000 BSR Nomadic, hunter-gatherers. Use of wooden and stone tools. Use of fire for heat and cooking. Development of language. Ritual activity (especially adornment of the living and burial of the dead). Artistic expression (cave painting and sculpture (stone, bone and ivory carving)). Middle Pre-History c.10,000 BSR to c.3,000 BSR More sedentary; less nomadic. Wooden and stone tools becoming increasingly complex. Development of agriculture fundamentally changed human lifestyle with the formation of small agricultural communities. The cultivation of crops and domestication of animals. Metal-working, first with copper (tools) and gold (ornaments), stimulated trade for metal ores (and metal goods). Late Pre-History c.3,000 BSR to c.100 BSR Trade and agricultural surpluses permitted the creation of towns and cities. These were centers of trade, manufacturing and political power. Creating a symbiosis between a city and its surrounding agricultural areas; a city absorbing agricultural products and providing manufactured goods and (varying degrees) of control and protection. These cities were the foundations of the first civilizations and enabled the invention of the wheel, mathematics, bronze-working, sailing boats, the pottery wheel, woven cloth, construction of monumental buildings and writing. Writing facilitated the administration of cities, the expression of ideas, and the preservation of information. This enabled centralised government, a complex economy and social structure, sophisticated language and writing systems, and distinct cultures and religions. Entities such as the Sun, Moon, land, sky, and sea were often deified. Shrines developed, which evolved into temple establishments, complete with a complex hierarchy of priests and priestesses and other functionaries. First Age First Civilizations c 3,000 BSR to c.100 BSR *Essat c.3,000 BSR **Hirathean Kingdoms **Others... *Ogulas **Dwenorian Republics c.1,500 BSR **Nerocian Kingdoms c.1,000 BSR **Thanorian States c.400 BSR The first city-states and civilizations began in the most fertile river valleys, where agricultural surpluses could be easily generated and transported. The Ogulan Sea fostered the projection of military power and the exchange of goods, ideas, and inventions. Philosophical Revolution From around 200 BSR a series of transformative philosophical and theological ideas were promulgated throughout the first civilizations, in Essat and Ogulas - specify them Eastern Monotheism. These were firmly embedded in society by the beginning of the first millennium SR. This era also saw new land technologies in Essat, such as horse-based cavalry and chariots, that allowed armies to move faster. Horses would not arrive in Ogulas for another three and a half millennia check this. Second Age Rise of the First Empires c.1 SR to 1,000 SR Hirathean Kingdoms coalesce to become the Hirath Empire c.1 SR. Collapse of the Eastern Hirath Empire leads to the eventual formation of the Arishlar Empire c.1,000 SR. Thanorian States coalesce to become Inner Thanor and Outer Thanor c.350 SR, subsequently becoming the powerful Kingdom of Thanor c.800 SR. Nerocian Kingdoms dominated by Macnerolon to form the Imperial Macnerolon Empire c.700 SR after the final defeat of the League of Trylanis. Fading First Empires c. 1,000 SR to 1,500 SR Western Hirath Empire breaks into a looser coalition of sovereign city-states - the Holy Hirath Empire c.1,250 SR. Arishlar Empire begins to dominate central South Essat, reaching the western coast c.1,450 SR. The Kingdom of Thanor establishes colonies in the Malarp Lowlands c.1,050 SR, and pushes north against the Imperial Macnerolon Empire c.1,200 SR. Thanorian Civil War c.1,250 to 1,280 SR fractures the Kingdom of Thanor with several regions gaining autonomy or independence - the Grand Duchy of Galumptia, the Duchy of Anzio and the Grand Duchy of Pyrus (independence) and Bradola Colony, the Principality of Endra, the Principality of Lihex and Perigevam Colony (autonomy). The Imperial Macnerolon Empire fails to capitalize on the problems of the Kingdom of Thanor, due to the rise of the Kingdom of Maldarse c. 1,240 SR and the ongoing conflict with the Principality of Gronuk. Third Age Category:History